At least seven people were killed and more than 700 people were injured in Taiwan in Wednesday morning’s massive earthquake with a magnitude of more than 7. This was reported by the Taipei Rescue Operations Center.
Two buildings also collapsed in Hualien city. According to local media, people were buried under the rubble. Television channel TVBS also reported that the earthquake caused landslides in Hualien district.
High-speed train traffic is partially interrupted. And at least three people were injured when a warehouse collapsed in the northern city of New Taipei, several media reported.
The earthquake occurred at just before 8 a.m. local time (2 a.m. Belgian time) and is said to be the strongest earthquake in Taiwan in 25 years. In 1999, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 killed 2,400 people.
TSMC evacuates staff
Chipmaker TSMC has halted a number of production machines and evacuated staff from certain areas after the earthquake near Taiwan. The world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, with customers including Apple and Nvidia, said it had yet to investigate the precise impact of the quake.
TSMC’s smaller Taiwanese peer, United Macroelectronics, has also halted some production lines and evacuated certain facilities in Hsinchu and Tainan.
A tsunami alert was declared for Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines on Wednesday morning. Japan and the Philippines have since lifted the warnings. Small tidal waves reached the islands of Yonaguni, Ishigaki and Miyako, in Okinawa Prefecture, earlier in the day. However, the meteorological agency had warned of tidal waves of more than three meters high.
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